JOHN FITCH, INVENTOR OF STEAMBOATS.
BY MIRA CLARKE PARSONS.
By a coincidence of which the writer was
not then aware,
while the article* on the
"Steamboat" was in type, the name of
Robert Fulton was brought to public
notice, for the purpose of
bestowing further honors upon the memory
of a great inventor.
The object of this paper is to offer
additional proof of the
validity of the prior claim of John
Fitch, as the inventor and
originator of steam navigation. While
all due regard must be
paid to Robert Fulton, it is only the
part of generosity and
justice to offer tribute to the master
to whom he was indebted
for the first idea of the invention
which was to be productive of
greater results than their wildest
dreams had ever conceived.
The first patent right of employing
steam as a means of
navigation was granted John Fitch by the
State of New Jersey,
in 1786, as will be seen by the
following communication, re-
ceived in reply to an inquiry regarding
it. The State Library of
Ohio furnishes no copies of the laws of
New Jersey previous
to 1800. TRENTON, N. J., Aug. 29, 1900.
My Dear Madame-The act granting certain
rights and
privileges to John Fitch was
"Passed at Trenton, March 18,
1786. The title of the act is 'An act
for granting and securing
to John Fitch the sole right and
advantage of making and
employing the steamboat, by him lately
invented, for a limited
time.' "
The act granted to Fitch "of Bucks
county, in the State of
Pennsylvania, for and during the full
end and term of fourteen
years, from and after the present
sessions of the legislature,"
the sole right of making and using boats
"which may be urged
or impelled through the water by the
force of fire or steam, in
all creeks, rivers, bays and waters
whatsoever within the territory
and jurisdiction of this State."
The penalty for infringement was
£100 and forfeiture of "all such
boat, boats or watercraft, together
with the steam engine, and all the
appurtenances thereof."
Very truly yours, HENRY C. BUCHANAN,
State Librarian.
*John Fitch, Inventor of Steamboats.
Vol. VIII, page 397, Ohio
Archaeological and Historical
Publications.
(238)
John Fitch, Inventor of
Steamboats. 239
New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and
Virginia granted
him the same rights the next year.*
The following is a copy of the act
passed by New York.
(In substance it may also be found in
"Wheaton's Report,"
9, 5.)
It was repealed eleven years after, for
reasons which will be
seen.
An act for granting and securing to John
Fitch the sole right
and advantage of making and employing
for a limited time,
the steamboat by him lately invented.
Passed the 19th of March, 1787.
WHEREAS, John Fitch, of Bucks county, in
the State of
Pennsylvania, hath represented to the
legislature of this state,
that he hath constructed an easy and
expeditious method of
impelling boats through the water by the
force of steam, pray-
ing that an act may pass, granting to
him, his executors, admin-
istrators and assigns, the sole and
exclusive right of making,
employing and navigating, all boats
impelled by the force of
steam or fire, within the jurisdiction
of this State, for a limited
time. Wherefore, in order to promote and
encourage so useful
an improvement and discovery, and as a
reward for his inge-
nuity, application and diligence,
Be it enacted by the people of the State
of New York, rep-
resented in Senate and Assembly, and it
is hereby enacted by
the authority of the same, That the said
John Fitch, his heirs,
executors, administrators and assigns
shall be, and they are
hereby vested with the sole and
exclusive right and privilege of
constructing, making, using, employing,
and navigating, all
and every species or kind of boats or
water craft, which may
be urged or impelled through the water
by the force of fire or
steam, in all creeks, rivers, bays and
waters whatsoever, within
the territory and jurisdiction of this
State, for and during the
full end and term of fourteen years,
from and after the present
session of the legislature.
And be it further enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That
if any person or persons whomsoever,
without being properly
authorized, by him, the said John Fitch,
his heirs, executors or
administrators, shall make, use, employ
or navigate any boat or
water craft, which shall or may be
urged, impelled, forced or
driven through the water, by the force,
power or agency of fire
or steam as aforesaid, within the
territory or jurisdiction of this
State, every person or persons so
offending, against the tenor,
*Documentary History of New York, p 104.
240
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
true intent and meaning of this act, for
each and every such
offense, shall forfeit and pay unto the
said John Fitch, his heirs,
executors or administrators, or to such
other person or persons
as he, the said John Fitch,, his heirs
or assigns, shall authorize
and empower for that purpose, the sum of
one hundred pounds,
to be recovered by action of debt in any
court of record, within
this state, wherein the same may be
cognizable, with costs of
suit; and shall also forfeit to him the
said John Fitch, his heirs
or assigns, all such boats or water
craft, together with the steam
engine, and all the appurtenances
thereof, to be recovered in
manner aforesaid, with costs of suit.
Provided always,
And be it further enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That
neither this act, nor any clause, manner
or thing therein con-
tained, shall be taken, deemed or
construed to prohibit or pre-
vent any person or persons from making,
using, employing or
navigating, within this State, any kind
of boats or water craft,
heretofore invented, or hereafter to be
invented, on any other
principles, construction or model, which
may be urged, im-
pelled, or driven along through the
water, by any other power,
force, agency or means, except fire or
steam.
(New York Laws, Vol. 2 (1785 to 1788
inclusive), pp.
472-473.)
An act repealing an act entitled
"An act for granting and secur-
ing to John Fitch the sole right and
advantage of making
and employing the steamboat by him
lately invented," and
for other purposes.
Passed the 27th of March, 1798.
WHEREAS, It has been suggested to the
people of this State
represented in Senate and Assembly that
Robert K. Livingston is
possessor of a mode of applying the
steam engine to propel a
boat on new and advantageous principles,
but that he is deterred
from carrying the same into effect by
the existence of a law
entitled "An act for granting and
securing to John Fitch the
sole right and advantage of making and
employing the steam-
boat by him lately invented,"
passed the nineteenth day of
March, one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-seven, as well
as by the uncertainty and hazard of a
very expensive experiment
unless he could be assured of the exclusive advantage
of the same
if on trial it should be found to
succeed. And whereas, it is
further suggested that the said John
Fitch is either dead or
hath withdrawn himself from this State
without having made
any attempt in the space of more than
ten years for executing the
John Fitch, Inventor of
Steamboats. 241
plan for which he so obtained an
exclusive privilege, whereby the
same is justly forfeited; therefore
Be it enacted by the people of the State
of New York rep-
resented in Senate and Assembly, That the act aforesaid
be and
is hereby repealed. And to the end that
Robert R. Livingston
may be induced to proceed in an
experiment which if successful
promises important advantages to this
State,
Be it further enacted, That privileges
similar to those
granted to the said John Fitch in and by
the before mentioned
act be and they hereby are extended to
the said Robert for the
term of twenty years from the passing of
this act. Provided,
nevertheless, that the said Robert shall,
within twelve months
from the passing of this act, give such
proof as shall satisfy the
governor, the lieutenant governor, and
the surveyor general of
this State, or a majority of them of his
having built a boat of
at least twenty tons capacity, which is
propelled by steam, and
the mean of whose progress through the
water with and against
the ordinary current of Hudson's river
taken together shall not
be less than four miles an hour and
shall at no time omit for
the space of one year to have a boat of
such construction plying
between the cities of New York and
Albany.
(New York Laws, Vol. 4 (1797 to
1800, inclusive), pp.
215-216.)
Title of Delaware Act: "An act for
granting and securing
to John Fitch the sole and exclusive
right and advantage of
making, constructing and employing the
steamboat by him
lately invented, for a limited
time."
Passed Feb. 3, 1787.
(Delaware Statutes, Vol. 2, p. 895.)
Title of Pennsylvania Act: "An act
for granting and secur-
ing to John Fitch the sole right and
advantage of employing
the steamboat by him lately invented,
for a limited time.
Passed March 28, 1787. Recorded in Law
Book No. III,
p. 213." (Laws of Pennsylvania,
Vol. 3, p. 201.)
Virginia, Title of Act: "An act
granting to John Fitch the
exclusive privilege of constructing and
navigating boats im-
pelled by fire or steam, for a limited
time.
Passed 7th of November, 1787."
Laws of Virginia, Vol. 12, p. 616.)
Further evidence of the priority of
Fitch's claim over any
others may be found in the
"Documentary History of New
242 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
York," (Vol II, beginning on page
1039) in a copy of his pamph-
let, "The Original Steamboat
Supported."
This contains certificates from the
governors of Maryland
and Virginia, bearing date the same year
in which his plan was
conceived (1785) and testifying to the
genuineness and expected
value of the invention.
The object of the pamphlet was to
vindicate his claim over
Ramsey, a would-be inventor. This was
long before the name
of Robert Fulton was associated with the
idea of steamboat nav-
igation.
Opposite page 1039 in the
"Documentary History" is a map
of Collect Pond, evidently a later and
improved edition of the
one furnished by Mr. Whiting for the
illustration in the April
magazine.*
It is headed: "Honor to whom honor
is due," and goes on
to say:
"Origin of steam navigation. A view
of Collect Pond and
its vicinity in the city of New York in
1793, on which pond the
first boat, propelled by steam, with
paddle wheels or screw pro-
pellors, was constructed by John Fitch
six years before Robert
Fulton made trial of his boat upon the
river Seine in France,
and ten years prior to his puttting into
operation his boat Cler-
mont in New York; with a representation
of the boat and its
machinery, on the Collect pond. By John
Hatchings."
The affidavits are the same as those on
the other map. The
illustrations include a drawing of
"John Fitch's first boat, the
'Perseverance,' as seen on the Delaware,
Phila., 1787. Speed,
seven miles an hour," also one of
the last model constructed at
Bardstown, Ky., in 1797-8.
The testimony furnished by these sources
is reliable beyond
question, and seems amply sufficient to
establish the claim of
John Fitch to his self-styled title of "Inventor of
Steamboats."
* Mr. A. N. Whiting, not I. N., as was
inadvertently represented there.